


After All This Time

by BornToLose



Category: Guns N' Roses
Genre: Break Up, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:49:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26802442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BornToLose/pseuds/BornToLose
Summary: In 1991, you and Izzy reunite and even now, your old feelings are still there.
Relationships: Izzy Stradlin/Reader
Kudos: 5





	After All This Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of the fluff equivalent to Time Gone By and I hope it doesn't break as many hearts as it did last time because the second half is cute.

When Izzy asked you to move to Los Angeles with him, you immediately agreed. You were young and wanted to get out of the small town that was Lafayette. You both longed for more, although neither of you had an exact plan. All you knew was that Izzy wanted to make music and you would just see whatever opportunity presented itself to you. You had only been dating for about a year, but you were sure you wanted to spend at least the next few years together.

The moment you arrived at your destination, you fell in love with everything about this city. It was bright, loud, lively, grand and glorious. It was nothing like your hometown and the fact that you had never been outside of Indiana before made it even more fascinating. It felt like paradise. You lived in a shitty apartment after sleeping in Izzy's car for weeks, but it didn't change your opinion on the city. You took the first step and you firmly believed it wouldn't be long until the rest would follow and your dreams would come true. Everyone has to start somewhere.

Soon you got a job as a waitress. You didn't earn a lot of money, but it was enough to get by for now. And Izzy, well… he got some cash too, but in a rather unconventional way; he began selling heroin out of the back window.

As time went by, the excitement about living in L.A. faded. You learned of the downsides and it turned out to be more dangerous than you'd presumed. Friends you'd made here were talking about how their lives had been better before they'd moved to the city of dreamers. It didn't make you lose your faith in Izzy and his plans, but you realized that they had a point.

Not everyone was destined to make it here. _You_ weren't destined to make it here. Izzy, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. Unlike you, he had a vision of what he was going to do and he was on a good way to achieve his goals.

You slowly started feeling more and more uncomfortable in such a huge city. The place you'd once would have done anything for was now one you wanted to get away from as soon as possible. Maybe returning to Indiana and going to college was the better choice for you. With or without Izzy. Clearly, it was going to be the latter. You couldn't expect him to give up his dreams to come along with you.

Obviously, you would have to sacrifice your relationship for it, but that was something you were willing to do, as harsh as that sounds. You did love him, but maybe it was time for you to go separate ways. He'd given you an amazing time and you were thankful for that.

The night you told Izzy you were leaving, he asked you why and what he could do to make you stay. You said it wasn't his fault, although you did not get along with his drug business, and that you just didn't feel like you belonged here. It was clear to him that you were not going to change your mind. There was some crying, but no hard feelings. He respected your decision and tried to make your last days together as enjoyable as possible.

Eventually, the day had come and you were standing outside the apartment building, suitcases at your feet. Your brother was coming to pick you up any moment.

"Take care of yourself, will you?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me. You take care too, understood?" Izzy looked at you sternly, but it turned into a soft smile as you nodded and squeezed his hands.

You let your eyes wander down the street. You weren't going to miss this place but the memories that were attached to it. The good ones when you had still been happy to be living here with him.

He reached out to push a strand of hair behind your ear, noticing your absentminded expression. "I'll visit you when I get the chance."

You looked back at him and smiled. "I wish you all the best in the world."

"Good luck, girl. You know I believe in you." He pulled you into a tight hug, which was only interrupted by your brother honking.

"He's here," he murmured, pulling away and tucking his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah… Goodbye, Iz."

He raised a hand. "Woah, don't say that! We'll see each other again, you know?"

You just smiled and grabbed your luggage, putting it in the trunk. Walking around the car to get in the passenger's seat, you gave Izzy a wave and closed the door.

Since then, you hadn't really stayed in contact. You'd both moved on and you even met someone new in college. Still, you were happy for him when his band Guns N' Roses became successful and you bought their debut album the day it was released.

You also followed the Billboard 200 and when their record reached number one, you had flowers sent to Geffen Records, addressing them to Izzy. You assumed he didn't live in your old apartment anymore and felt like this was the biggest chance he might actually receive them. He did get them and thanked you by sending a postcard from England to your parents' address a few weeks later because he didn't know where exactly you lived either.

It was fall and you were strolling through the local bookstore as it rained outside. Romance novels, thrillers, science-fiction, biographies, history books, philosophy books… You stopped at the latter category, suddenly thinking of how much Izzy loved to read those. Even now, he was the first person who popped up in your mind when the topic came up. You flipped through the pages of a book you remembered the name of from seeing it on Izzy's nightstand back when you had been in high school. If you remembered correctly, he'd even bought it here.

"Still reading my philosophy books? You know, you'd sit on my bed and say you didn't perceive me as a philosophy guy the first time you came over." The deep voice behind you sounded familiar and your smile grew wider with every word. When you turned around, your guess was confirmed. A tall man with dark brown shoulder-length hair was leaning against a bookshelf, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Izzy!" You put the book back and threw your arms around him. He laughed and hugged you in return. "What are you doing here?" you asked, letting go of him when you felt like you were almost crushing his bones.

"I told you I'd visit you!" he said with a grin.

You wanted to roll your eyes, but the beaming smile that was still on your face stopped you from doing so. Now was really not the time you expected him to come and see you. You thought he'd long forgotten about you, but it turned out he did keep his promises after all, which made this surprise even better. "Yeah, but that was when I moved back here years ago!"

"Sorry, I only now got the chance, but the good thing is…" He paused dramatically and you playfully smacked his arm.

"Don't let me wait like this!"

"I'm staying here."

Your mouth fell open and you squealed in excitement, earning dirty looks from other customers who wanted to read in silence. Izzy grabbed your hand, pulling you out of the store before you'd get asked to leave. "Really? What happened?"

"Well, I left the band," he said casually as he opened the umbrella.

"Oh…" You didn't know what to say. Honestly, you hadn't been keeping up with the music news lately and were probably the last one to hear about it while fans all around the world were heartbroken.

"It's fine, it was my own decision," he reassured you. "Actually, I'm doing much better now that I'm clean. I stopped drinking too."

"That's great to hear." You were genuinely happy that he was finally able to cut drugs out of his life before he'd end up dead like so many other musicians. He also looked healthier now than in some of the photos you'd seen in magazines.

You walked home sharing an umbrella like in the old days. The same route to your house, the same way of talking without any awkward silence. It didn't feel like you were seeing each other for the first time in almost ten years.

Izzy told you about his plans of forming a new band and releasing a couple of solo albums in the future, which you, of course, encouraged. You'd always thought he had a beautiful voice, so why waste it on only doing backing vocals while having a lead singer?

It was nice to see his face light up when he talked about something he was passionate about. Until now, you hadn't been aware of how much you really missed this. There was something about him that instantly made you feel happier than you had been only an hour ago.

From then on, you started visiting each other every day. You hadn't made your status clear, if you were old friends, good friends, best friends or even a couple. You doubted the latter as there were barely any signs which indicated that you were dating, but after a while, you found yourself questioning your feelings for him more frequently. You felt like they'd only gotten stronger over time.

Since you'd broken up with Izzy, you'd been in a couple of relationships and you were happy with the other guys too. It wasn't like you'd never found love again and spent your life drowning in self-pity because you'd missed your chance, but you did feel a difference when you were with Izzy now. You felt more at home when he was there and he was still the person you could talk to about anything. You'd grown pretty close since he'd come back.

Actually, you didn't regret your decision to move to Indiana all those years ago. Perhaps your love would have faded sooner or later and it would have ended in a much more depressing breakup, but now it was completely different. You were just as much - if not even more - in love with him now as when he'd asked you to be his girlfriend in senior year.

You'd come to realize now was the ideal time for a fresh start. You were still young and you hadn't lost too much time. He was clean, he wasn't touring the world, he was happy, he was still the same person. Just like when you had first met him.

Tonight, you were at your house, watching old movies you'd loved when you'd been teenagers. You were cuddled up against Izzy, something that didn't necessarily mean you were more than friends, but you definitely interpreted it as such. It gave you that warm feeling you'd experienced some time ago at the beginning of your relationship that you hadn't felt since then. These past weeks, you had been seeking physical contact - and you always got it.

"Why did we break up, (y/n)?" Izzy suddenly asked.

"Well… I didn't feel comfortable living in such a big city anymore and I didn't like that you were selling drugs," you replied, subconsciously tightening your grip on his arm as if he was going to slip away. Your heart ached at the memory of you telling him you were leaving him. It had been a cozy night in and Izzy had just come home from rehearsal when he'd got the news.

Now you were certain it had actually hurt both of you much more than you would have liked to admit. Although it wasn't a nasty breakup, it somehow left that hole in you that hadn't disappeared until you reunited. He made you feel like no one else could.

"But we were a pretty good team, weren't we?" he asked, a small smile on his lips.

"Yes, we were," you confirmed.

Izzy nodded and took his eyes off the screen, looking down at you. "I don't know what it is, but…" He paused, searching for the right words. "I feel like I'm more in love with you now than I've ever been."

You were trying to process that you were not the only one who felt this way. You'd assumed that maybe he had feelings for you too, but hearing him say exactly what had been on your mind for a while too was something completely different. "You still love me?"

"Yeah, you do too?"

Your shuffled to sit in a more comfortable position that allowed you to properly look at him. "Of course."

His smile widened and he brought a hand up to your cheek before leaning in to kiss you. The butterflies in your stomach were going wild and you wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer as you laid back on the sofa. When you pulled away, Izzy rested his head on your chest and glanced at the television, grabbing the remote and switching it off. He looked back up at you and pecked your lips once more.

"I really don't regret coming back," he murmured and you started playing with the curls at the nape of his neck.


End file.
